Senior forward McCarty looks beyond basketball in future endeavors
The ball will stop bouncing for Central Michigan senior forward John McCarty after the 2017-18 season.
McCarty, however, might not need a basketball. He will attend Yale for a graduate degree in August. He wants to work in trauma, emergency rooms or a type of surgery.
“I don’t think professional basketball is on my horizon,” McCarty said.
Since he was young, McCarty always performed well on the court, but also well in the classroom. As a student at Lake Orion High School, McCarty earned all A's, along with taking AP and college courses to prepare for his time at CMU.
“Academics allow me to be eligible, which is how I’m able to come to practice,” McCarty said. “My parents instilled in me at an early age that I can go anywhere with my grades. I’ve taken that to heart and that’s helped me get through these college years.”
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound sharpshooter has played in 17 games during his career in Mount Pleasant, but serves as a motivator for others in the classroom.
“I try to motivate the guys on the team to do their best in the classroom because one day the ball stops bouncing but you have your brain forever,” McCarty said.
McCarty has a 4.0 GPA as a biology/biomedical science major.
“Central Michigan has been awesome,” McCarty said. “It’s really helped me mature into more of an adult throughout my life. A lot of professors I’ve met, whether it’s my research professor Dr. Cynthia Damer or my organic chemistry professor Dr. Benjamin Swarts, have really helped instill characteristics in me that I hope to carry for the rest of my life.”
CMU head coach Keno Davis, while he realizes his senior forward pushes others to work hard in class, sees McCarty as a motivator on the bench.
“It helps us because he’s very basketball smart,” Davis said. “For him, he helps in practice being on the practice squad and simulates what others are going to do. He’s really like a coach on the court. Around the guys that are playing more, he can help them by finding things in the scouting report.”
McCarty hopes others can fill his role next season.
“I’m hoping (sophomore forward) Austin Ervin and (freshman guard) Adam Kozinski can step up and help the new guys next year to get accustomed to the culture, the way we do things here and the speed of the game,” McCarty said.
In Davis’ mind, he has some ideas on who could take over McCarty’s role in the 2018-19 season but does not want to speak too soon.
“I’ve got some thoughts about who can be the next Chris Fowler, Rayshawn Simmons or John McCarty, but I want to get into the summer and see if they naturally take those positions,” Davis said.
Davis hopes everything will play out.
“We have some guys on the scout team that are doing it for the first time. For me, it’s my fourth year and I can see some things that they don’t. I try to help them adjust on the fly so we can get a better look.”
